"THE government’s announcement of the withdrawal of child vaccinations containing mercury came under immediate fire yesterday as it emerged that at least four more vaccines containing the poisonous metal will remain in use by the National Health Service. "

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=916032004

Vaccine row as NHS continues poison jabs

JAMES KIRKUP AND HILARY MARSHALL

THE government’s announcement of the withdrawal of child vaccinations containing mercury came under immediate fire yesterday as it emerged that at least four more vaccines containing the poisonous metal will remain in use by the National Health Service. Ministers in Edinburgh and London yesterday confirmed that vaccines containing thiomersal, a preservative that is almost 50 per cent mercury, will be replaced with a new five-in-one jab.

The move follows the results of a scientific study that showed a link between thiomersal and autism in mice. But confusingly, officials admit that some flu vaccines and even rarely used child vaccines containing the product will still be prescribed. Many campaigners also fear that mercury could still threaten children if flu vaccines are given to expectant mothers. "To inject mercury into pregnant women is very worrying indeed," said Bill Welsh, chairman of the Glasgow-based Action Against Autism group.

Withdrawing thiomersal from some vaccines but keeping it in others "beggars belief", he said. David Davidson, the Scottish Conservatives’ health spokesman, said that the government announcement left important questions unanswered. "It is great news that mercury is to be removed from children’s vaccines, but it does beg the question about the use of mercury derivatives in flu vaccines," he said.

"The government need to explain why they are still deemed to be safe."

Britain is one of the few developed countries where thiomersal is still widely used. Led by the United States, other countries have removed the product from all drugs, and the World Health Organisation has said that human exposure to mercury products should be minimised wherever possible. Yet, in this country, Twinrix Paediatric, sometimes used to protect children against Hepatitis A and B, contains traces of thiomersal and four of the common NHS flu vaccines - Fluvirin, Fluarix, Influvac and Agrippal - also contain thiomersal.

While the government advises against widespread flu vaccinations for pregnant women, some doctors are calling for Britain to follow the US example, where medical authorities recommend the treatment for all mothers- to-be. A study at Rider University in New Jersey last year suggested a link between flu in pregnant women and behavioural difficulties in their children. That study has prompted calls by British scientists, led by John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary’s School of Medicine in London and one of the world’s leading experts, for more routine flu vaccination.

The Scottish Executive last night confirmed that it continues to buy the thiomersal flu vaccines for use by NHS Scotland. "Some of the flu vaccines that we purchase do still contain thiomersal, but what we have always said is that where equally effective vaccines are tested and licensed which don’t contain thiomersal, they will replace the ones that do," a spokeswoman for the Executive said.

Some doctors also recommend routine flu immunisations for pregnant women who suffer from asthma. A Department of Health spokeswoman confirmed that "in general" the government advised against giving pregnant women the flu vaccine, but insisted that the recommendation was not an admission that thiomersal can be dangerous. "It’s just the general principle that you should avoid giving anything to pregnant women if at all possible," she said, adding that since thiomersal-free flu vaccines were available, pregnant women with a particular need could be given them.

Although repeated studies had failed to prove a link between mercury and autism, researchers at Columbia University announced in June they had found autism-like damage in the brains of mice exposed to thiomersal. Despite the widespread anxiety about the use of mercury products in vaccines, government officials yesterday insisted that the change in childhood treatments had not been driven by concern about thiomersal. Instead, the new vaccine had been introduced to incorporate a new, injectable polio virus to replace the old oral version, officials said. The new polio treatment was incompatible with mercury.

"Thiomersal has not been a factor in the decision to change," said Elizabeth Miller, the head of the immunisation department at the Health Protection Agency. "It is a consequence of the decision to change that the vaccine that happens to be used will be thiomersal-free." But Dr Peter English, consultant in communicable diseases at the Health Protection Agency, last week wrote in a letter to GPs that there were three reasons for the change: "The primary objectives are: to do away with whole-cell pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine; to do away with live, oral polio vaccine and to do away with thiomersal vaccines." And a spokesman for the Health Protection Agency confirmed that the agency considers it was "not ideal to be giving injections containing heavy metal to children or to anyone".

With the switch to a five-in-one treatment due next month, ministers and public health officials are desperate to avoid a repeat of the controversy that dogged the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) triple injection. Public worries about that treatment - which has also been linked to autism - led many parents to avoid it, and some parts of the country saw localised epidemics of diseases including measles and mumps. In particular, officials are concerned that parents whose children are due for immunisation will be tempted to wait until the mercury-free vaccination is available next month.

Trying to allay those fears, Mac Armstrong, the chief medical officer in Scotland, yesterday urged parents: "Don’t delay, immunise today." He added: "The important thing is these new vaccines are entirely compatible with those currently on offer, so parents taking their children along to be immunised in the next few weeks should continue to do so." Dr David Love, the joint chairman of the BMA’s Scottish General Practitioners Committee, insisted that "there are good reasons for this move, in particular in the case for changing from oral to injectable polio vaccine".

He added: "BMA Scotland welcomes the removal of the mercury-based vaccine, not because it believes that the current vaccinations are unsafe, but because there is a more effective alternative available." But the Patients Association attacked the government for not providing more information about the new vaccine, or the reasons for the change. "There is so little information it is very confusing. Have we not learnt the lesson of miscommunication with MMR?" said Simon Williams, the association’s head of policy. "How can parents be confident with these sorts of miscommunication messages?" Jackie Fletcher, the founder of Justice, Awareness and Basic Support, or JABS, a support group for parents who believe their children were damaged by vaccines, said that parents would once again feel suspicious of the official advice on vaccinations.

"Increasing the combinations increases the potential for an adverse reaction and restricts choice for parents, when the government said it wanted to improve choice," she said.

Fluoride Wars - Scotland Says 'No' - Mercury Wars -Vaccines Still Contain Mercury Keeps us up to date with UK developments in the battle to keep our children safe from institutional poisoning. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb184052.php. (PRWEB) December 2, 2004 -- Good news! Another of Blair's policies is falling apart thanks to an awareness campaign by the BNP (Aug 2003) and others.

Scotland, always wary of Westminster's tactics, has blocked the enforced fluoridation of its water supplies. Ministers have been troubled by the thousands of petition signatures and letters complaining about the erosion of civil liberties and justified health concerns.

Like the Government, fluoride is a bully. Fluoride displaces iodine from your thyroid (the body's energy control centre) and generally poisons enzyme systems. The poorer you are - the worse is the effect. Don't forget 10,000 USA children a year are admitted to hospital just because they use too much fluoride toothpaste.

The fluoride added to drinking water is a toxic waste by-product that corporations are trying to make money from. Even the Medical Research Council has said it needs more investigation with regards to it producing Bone Cancer. Scroll down to fluoride on www.mercurypoisoned.com to see the latest articles.

Finally fluoride in water can produce a distinctive yellowing of the teeth so that you could end up looking like a coffee addicted guinea pig and have to spend thousands of pounds on ceramic caps.

So what can we do to stop New Labour eroding our civil liberties such that the mass medication of our water supplies with a suspect substance permanently damages our health?

Write, phone to your papers, to your MP and as many others as you can. Above all write to Blair and let him know what you think.

Mercury Wars…good news…bad news. Vaccines Are Not Mercury Free

If our Government is to be believed then we are not going to see Thimerosal in vaccines from now on. However in the last few months we have discovered that thimerosal-free does not mean ‘mercury free' in USA vaccines and, in all probability, UK vaccines. A charity in the USA has bought thimerosal free-vaccines and had them analysed. Guess what? … They contain mercury.

One of the world's top mercury specialists, Prof. B Haley, investigated, after being consulted, and discovered that in order to save money the vaccines companies still make their vaccines with thimerosal and then try to filter it out afterwards. This results in mercury being left behind because it sticks to the proteins in the vaccine. So if you think stopping the use of thimerosal will stop autism…think again!

Our children are still being poisoned by the back door by greedy corporations. Some people would say they are trying to prove that taking thimerosal out of vaccines doesn't affect autism rates. This would mean they are not sued and in time could go back to using thimerosal – and to maximising profits.

This is an extract from the formal press release: After much public controversy surrounding the mercury content of childhood vaccinations, Health Advocacy in the Public Interest (HAPI) raised $500 to have four vaccines tested for heavy metal content. The vials were sent to Doctor's Data, an independent lab which specialises in heavy metal testing.

Many manufacturers voluntarily began producing supposed "mercury free" vaccines in 1999. Some product inserts currently claim that a "trace" amount of mercury still exists in the final product but that the amount has been greatly reduced. Others claim to be producing completely mercury free products.

During an investigation into the mercury issue, HAPI learned that Thimerosal, a 50% mercury compound, is still being used to produce most vaccines and that the manufacturers are simply "filtering it out" of the final product. However, according to Boyd Haley, PhD, Chemistry Department Chair, University of Kentucky , mercury binds to the antigenic protein in the vaccine and cannot be completely, 100% filtered out.

All four vaccine vials tested contained mercury despite manufacturer claims that two of the vials were completely mercury free. All four vials also contained aluminium, one nine times more than the other three, which tremendously enhances the toxicity of mercury causing neuronal death in the brain.

Mercury and Autism The mercury content of routine childhood vaccinations has been linked to the current autism epidemic as well as numerous other neurological disorders affecting children today. Currently, one in six children is affected in some way and one in 250 children is diagnosed as autistic, compared to one in 10,000 prior to mercury-containing vaccines.

It is the position of Dr. Haley as well as HAPI that if mercury can be detected in any vaccine using standard instrumentation, the content should be disclosed in the product insert and manufacturers should not be allowed to call the product "mercury free".

Golden rule…make sure your child is vaccinated from a single dose vial because multi-dose vials contain thimerosal. And get your GP to confirm that the vaccine is also ‘mercury free'. Insist on it. Also make as many people aware of your concerns as possible.

Finally www.melisa.org is offering a test which should tell you if your child will be susceptible to Autism.